Southern region drought stokes wildfires
Several wildfires are burning across New Mexico, with the three largest having burned a combined 34,732 acres as of April 21. These fires are burning over drought-stressed forests and grasslands.
In fact, fire risk is high across the Southern plains, with several states in extreme or exceptional areas of drought. The elevated fire risk is expected to persist through spring, according to a National Integrated Drought Information System drought update.
More than 50% of the region is in extreme or exceptional drought, which are the highest drought designations. Soils are very dry and wildfire potential is higher than normal. The drought is expected to continue into summer, the update said.
April usually provides between 1.5 and 2.5 inches of precipitation for western Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, and about an inch for eastern New Mexico. So far, April 2022 has seen less than 0.1 inches for the drought-affected area of these states, according to the update.
Wildfires are a major concern in Oklahoma, with 19 of its 77 counties under a burn ban. High winds, near-record high temperatures and lack of rainfall are accelerating drought intensification across the western half of Oklahoma.
The drought conditions have certainly fueled the fires. The risk of fire continues as over half of the region is in the highest two levels of drought designation.
The last time more than 50% of the region experienced extreme drought conditions or greater was in January 2013, the update said. As of April 2022, 51% of the region is experiencing extreme to exceptional drought.
Every state in the region is at least partially in extreme drought. The National Integrated Drought Information System reports that 63% of New Mexico, 36% of Oklahoma and 53% of Texas are extreme drought areas, to name a few.
The majority of western Texas and Oklahoma have seen less than 25% of normal precipitation for the year. April 2022 has been the driest to date for most of western and central Kansas.
Despite some additional rain forecasted by the end of April, the September-April period will probably be among the 10 driest such periods on record in Texas, the update said.
Read the full update here.
